So what to make of the reports out of New York that the Phillies are front-runners to acquire Beltran from the rebuilding Mets before the July 31 trade deadline? First, it must be stressed that the reports are originating with the team trying to create a bidding war for Beltran.
Mets GM Sandy Alderson has already declared the fire sale by trading closer Francisco Rodriguez. The other night, he told reporters that "the next three or four years are more important than the next three or four months."
The opposite is true for the Phillies, who have the best record in baseball.
Amaro has declared himself incommunicado until the trade deadline. With the media, that is. Given his track record, Amaro is certainly in constant communication with his fellow GMs. That track record also tells us that he is likely to go for the best possible player available, and that would be Beltran.
Should he do it? If the Astros won't part with Hunter Pence as part of their salary-dumping project - or if GM Ed Wade just can't get caught helping his former team out again - then yes.
Within reason, anyway, Amaro should go ahead and sacrifice some of that future to get Beltran.
Domonic Brown? It would hurt to have a player who is often compared to Darryl Strawberry blossom into a superstar with Strawberry's old team. But who has a better chance of contributing in the World Series this year, Beltran or Brown?
Beltran has a .366 lifetime average with 11 home runs and 1.302 OPS in 22 postseason games. Most of that production came in 2004 with Houston, when he was playing for a new contract. That is exactly the situation Beltran will be in this year.
